Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: Luke

  • Until He Was Taken Up

    Until He Was Taken Up

    Jesus IS risen from death on a cross! Then after appearing alive is again taken up into heaven.

    Witness after witness has told you what our Lord has done.  Jesus appeared not only to the Apostles and family, but the risen Jesus also appeared to other witnesses.

    How can we explain this singular pivotal event in the history of man to others? How do we tell this Good News?

    This is the dilemma of Dr. Luke, Mark and the Apostles Mathew and John.

    Peter, the ten remaining Apostles and others can give their witness to a scribe of history (like Mark or Luke); but then the dilemma of the reporter: how can this writer of this most important Good News convince the hearers (for most were incapable of reading the written word) of the absolute truth of the eyewitness accounts: the Gospel?

    Jesus IS risen from death; Jesus walked with and instructed the Apostles; Jesus IS then taken up into the clouds to His rightful Throne of heaven!

    Luke has written his Gospel account as one book. Now Luke continues in what we know as the Acts of the Apostles. Luke recounts the time after Jesus resurrection. Luke chronicles the days of the first century church, beginning with the time of the Apostles with Jesus after the resurrection and before His ascension to heaven.

    Now in his second book Luke details the Acts of the Apostles.

    Acts 1

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    The Promise of the Holy Spirit

    In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

    NOTE: As a twenty-first century reader of this first century writer I have read several commentaries on the identity of Theophilus. 

    The best consensus is that among the few learned men of the day, he may be a faithful disciple of the early church who provided needed funds and materials to Dr. Luke (another early disciple of the Way) for Luke to record his Gospel. (The disciple Mark would have also needed the grant of materials and time to write his Gospel account.

    Luke continues:

    4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

    … To be continued

  • A Flicker of Faith

    A Flicker of Faith

    Proverbs 24:20 For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.

    Beloved brother; dearly beloved sister:

    I know you have been ‘lukewarm‘ in your belief in Christ. You have been lukewarm in your faith in Jesus. You have been cold in your heart for His church and unthankful in your daily life.

    Your offering has been stingy (if you have even returned any of what is already His).

    And your prayer?  … Probably as infrequent as my prayers so often become.

    The flame of His light dimly flickers in the fruit of your witness. You resist the fire of His Holiness each time the Lord calls you to repentance.

    Yes… at times, we are lukewarm for the risen Lord, Christ Jesus. At times, we fail miserably in our Christian… our christian… our not-so-Christlike mortal life.

    The Light in You

    Luke 11:33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.

    34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness.

    36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”

    John 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

    5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

    Has the Lord’s light left your heart?

    OR do you answer our risen Lord’s voice at the door of your heart saying: ‘Repent, beloved?’

    Jesus seeks the lost. He welcomes the return of the prodigal christian.

    For to the church at Ephesus, the risen Christ also revealed through John:

    Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent…

    7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

    To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

  • Who is it? – 2

    Who is it? – 2

    church-usRevelation 3:17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 

    st peters papal altar and baldacchinoJesus? At my door?

    Of course He knows my works, but shall I let Him in?

    How can I stall Him just a little?

    (For Jesus has said: “Because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth.)

    What can I do? Is it too late? Should I open the door just a little?

    The church at Laodicea had an urgent problem. If the risen Jesus Christ is knocking at the door, what must we do to make ourselves ready for this unexpected returning owner of our church?

     18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

    lakewood insideWhat shall we do with our smiling ushers with open palms?

    blessed virginWhat shall we do with the indulgences for the idols?

    How will we fund the evangelism of our books?

    How will we pay for the grande cathedrals of our Saints?

     

    Revelation 3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

     

    18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

    19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

     Why are you so quick to glorify men and so slow to glorify God?

    Why do you not lay down your life for the poor and take up your cross to follow Christ?

    Christ Jesus, the Living God! our risen Lord loves His bride the Church.

    It is our Lord who stands at the door of lukewarm christians. It is our Lord who knocks at the door of our hardened hearts.

    20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

    If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

    Is your Communion with Christ Jesus something He would want to spit out?

    Should the Lord knock on the door of your heart and give you words of reproof and discipline, would you repent?

    Would you invite Jesus in to eat with you and you with Him?

    Luke 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying,

    This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

    Revelation 3: 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

    22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”